Black Bean and Mushroom Vegan Tostadas

These black bean and mushroom vegan tostadas are easy to put together and totally adaptable to whatever veggies you happen to have on hand. They start with a quick vegan “refried” black bean mash and are piled high with sautéed mushrooms, pickled red cabbage and fresh veggies. This is a healthy, oil-free recipe as the tostadas are baked rather than fried!

If you like tacos (and who doesn’t?), you’ll love tostadas. Just like with tacos, on tostadas anything goes. You’ll never run out of ideas for how to top your tostadas and they’re great for cleaning out your fridge of any leftover odds and ends.

Just a quick look around the Interwebs returned some great tostada ideas: roasted veggie tostadas, spicy braised tofu tostadas, quinoa taco meat tostadas, sweet breakfast tostadas, and now add my black bean and mushroom vegan tostadas to the mix!

The mashed black beans and sautéed mushrooms make these vegan tostadas super hearty, filling and delicious with a great smoky flavour. I contrasted that with some sour pickled red cabbage. The idea for that came from a pub next to my parents’ place that serves nachos with pickled red cabbage on top; it sounds super weird, but it works!

Since I cooked my black beans from dry, I also shredded the cabbage and put it in a pickling brine the night before when I put my beans to soak. Of course you might not want to take the time to cook dry beans so canned are just fine and freshly shredded cabbage or lettuce instead of pickled cabbage is tasty too for these vegan tostadas.

The remaining veggies that I threw on were just some leftovers that I found in my fridge: sliced cherry tomatoes, radishes, an avocado and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro. Like I said, you can do yours up with whatever you’ve got on hand.

I served my vegan tostadas with some store-bought salsa on the side. You could also make up a guacamole, cashew sour cream or try the cilantro-lime dressing from my grilled veggie vegan burrito bowl drizzled on top.

Just like with my baked vegan taquitos, these vegan tostadas can be served for lunch, dinner or as a party finger food / appetizer. If you don’t want to spend time putting together a bunch of tostadas, just put all the toppings in separate bowls on the table and let everyone make up their own. Easy!

Serves 4

Black Bean and Mushroom Vegan Tostadas

Vegan tostadas, baked rather than fried, topped with refried black beans, mushrooms and pickled red cabbage. An easy and delicious appetizer or entree.

Place the cabbage in a large bowl or container with a lid. Mix together all remaining ingredients and pour over the cabbage. Cover and leave overnight to pickle. If you don’t want to make ahead the cabbage, you can skip this part and use fresh cabbage for your tostadas.

For the refried black beans

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add a splash of water (you can use oil if you prefer), the onion and garlic. Sauté until soft, then add the herbs and spices and sauté for a couple of minutes, stirring, to release their aromas. Lower the heat to medium and add the black beans and ¾ cup (175 ml) water. Once the beans are heated, smash them with a potato masher or fork until forming a paste. If you find it difficult, you can also transfer the beans to a food processor and blend.

For the tostadas

While the onions are cooking, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Bake the corn tortillas for about 5 – 8 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they are crisp and toasted. Watch them carefully because they can burn very quickly.

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms. Dry fry (you can fry in a bit of oil if you prefer), flipping halfway through, until they are golden brown on both sides.

Spread some of the black bean mixture onto the crispy tortillas and top with the mushrooms, avocado slices, tomatoes, radishes, pickled red cabbage and fresh cilantro. Serve with lime slices and salsa on the side.

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2 Comments

Stefani

April 22, 2017 at 12:01 am
Melissa, thank you so much for this recipe! I have had a huge jar of pickled cabbage in the fridge and no clue what to do with it, so when your recipe fluttered into my mailbox, I knew I had to try it. And boy, was that delicious!